Training in the Rain
Making the most of a session when it's raining.
Embrace the wet weather conditions
Enjoy the challenge and maintain your enthusiasm. You set the tempo for the session and if you are upbeat then the team will be more likely to follow.
Areas of the game that suffer most in wet weather are: lineouts, passing and ball into contact.
Getting wet in stages
Team talks and the warm up can be done under cover, the latter with a little imagination. Running on the spot in the changing rooms (with boots/cleats off) plus dynamic stretching and even some press ups and sit ups.
On the pitch
Once on the pitch, keep off the ground for as long as possible. Running and handling, could be best done at the front end of the practice.
It's important to practise lineouts in the wet, as these suffer in the rain. Generally, I'd say practise lineouts early-on. However, players may not appreciate standing around in the rain waiting for the ball to be thrown in. Particularly if it's also cold, this part of the session could be done last.
Getting "dirty" is best placed at the end. Here here the activity should be at its most intense, with players on the move all the time.
Spare a thought for the groundsman and the rest of the season. Move the practice around if possible so you do not churn up the ground.
Once the training areas have turned to pure mud it is unlikely they will recover. When they go hard later, they will be very unpleasant to train on. If you have to train on the pitch, then use the dead ball area.
Getting technical
Passing
Practice passing without pressure first, questioning the types of pass that are going to be most effective.
Floor ball
Wet weather means more spilled ball. This means a certain amount of time in the practice should be focused on dealing with the ball on the floor.
Practice good ways to fall on the ball and/or ruck. Discuss how the ball should be presented to the scrum half (9). Most scrum halves will want the ball picked up and helped out, rather than digging into a muddy mess.
Kicks, rolls and recovery
Kicking takes on a new dimension. Goal kickers will find their non kicking foot less stable. Drop goals and kick restarts will be more difficult. You need to find out what's possible and not possible for your kickers.
It is also worth spending time on kicking in open play, in attack and defence. Don't just assume that the use of high balls are the only way. In fact, they are not always as effective as trying to make the opposition pick the ball off the floor.
In wet weather it is worth trying to pin back opponents into their half and let them make mistakes. So a low risk option can be a low raking kick rather than the chance of misfiring a high ball, which your chasers might knock on anyway.
Kick and chase
Chasing kicks and recovering them is a skill not often explored in dry weather let alone wet weather. Players need to make decisions on when to fall on the ball and when to pick up.
Kick and chase drills under pressure with defenders and attackers can be great fun, especially as sliding is likely. It's also good to increase the awareness of the options.